Dopass.com

I dunno if I'm sick or what, but man did I wake up just not in the mood to do anything. I really hate it when that happens. Left to my own devices I tend to be the "find stuff to do" guy - so I'm usually working, even when I'm uninspired (e.g. doing research, working out a different problem). It's how I usually get through those blocks... but today I sorta feel like I don't even have that going for me.

Thankfully, where I work here I can ask some folks what they need done and someone will find someway to push me past this by giving me something to do... Still I hate it.

So while I wait, I thought I'd pose a question and explore it:

Is it possible to create games solely for a niche market, and still make money?

There are folks that will tell you no and there are folks that will tell you yes, but I'm sort of undecided. I think that if you can get your niche to know about the game on the cheap and if you self-publish then it's definitely possible, but beyond that? I think it's a pipe dream of developers sitting in large "mass market" studios thinking that one day they'll get the chance to make that self-indulgent niche game they've always dreamed about.

And you know what? I think that's a huge problem for the industry. I'm going to wax "old guy" here a second: Niche games are what got gaming where it is today. Do I think we can support our entire industry on niche games alone? Hell no! But I do think that by abandoning them the way we have, we've doomed ourselves to an endless cycle of bland games with little or no innovation in them.

You see, when you work on a niche game in the genre you love, you're more creative - you're way more passionate about what you're doing (Especially if your niche is particularly under - and poorly - served, say post apocalyptic role playing). You're far more likely to come up with answers that - for the mainstream - are more out of the box. Then, other designers will see your work and carry your out of the box solutions over to the mainstream... and the mainstream evolves as a result. Right now the mainstream designers (which includes me, don't think I'm a hero on this front) are all cribbing off of each other... the mainstream is refining itself, but it's not making any evolutionary leaps. Which is too bad... would the FPS have existed if it had not been for the 2D shooter? Would the modern MMO exist without hardcore RPGs? All of our "mainstream" genres were adapted from the niche games that came before them.

Now that we have no niches left for creativity to hide in, where does that leave us?

- Snipehunter

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